The most important thing conservatives can contribute to society at present is their vision. American conservatives have been at their best when they have aimed at discerning the philosophical sources of our discontent. The most respectable writers in this tradition have set their sights on posterity and have labored simply to tell the truth in enduring fashion. Notwithstanding the remarkable impact that conservatives have made in the political arena over the past generation, our priority in the future must be to produce scholarship and opinion that attempts to emulate the level of intelligence and verve displayed by these earlier writers. For ours is a practical intellectual task. The debate we must pursue with the liberals concerns human nature itself; and there is no subject with more immediate practical consequences than this.—George Michos